Best-selling author Michael J. Sullivan’s mesmerizing Riyria Revelations series has found a welcome home with fans of magic, clashing swords, and daring heroes. This second volume finds Royce and Hadrian on a quest to enlist the southern Nationalists to aid the ever-weakening kingdom of Melengar. Royce suspects an ancient wizard is manipulating them all, but to find the truth he’ll have to decipher Hadrian’s past—a past Hadrian wants to keep secret.

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Best-selling author Michael J. Sullivan’s mesmerizing Riyria Revelations series has found a welcome home with fans of magic, clashing swords, and daring heroes. This second volume finds Royce and Hadrian on a quest to enlist the southern Nationalists to aid the ever-weakening kingdom of Melengar. Royce suspects an ancient wizard is manipulating them all, but to find the truth he’ll have to decipher Hadrian’s past—a past Hadrian wants to keep secret.

This book picks up after a year or so after the end of first book where Church has found a lost leader and started to form an Empire.

Our combo of elvish assassin and burly fighter find themselves working for the king of Melengar as spies that book start to focus a lot more on the politics and intrigue. I enjoyed this portion of the book that author does not let the narrative get dull with endless chatter. Some of the characters are cunning yet funny.

Scope of the story is larger, and yet book almost manage to move as fast as the previous book (though there were few moments which I thought were kind of a drag).

Author provides a lot more depth to the characters of Royce and Hadrian. Back stories of Royce and Hadrian is been flushed out which is masterfully integral to the over all story.

There are twists in this book which caught me by surprised. Arista's development as person and as an practitioner of the 'art' continues, and it is a fun ride.

Sense of humor between two thieves is still fresh and fun.

Narrator did a great job, and book is really a fun listen. This audio series is turning into one of my favorite. This book has setup nicely for the last in series for which I cant wait!

I was pleasantly surprised that this book (books 3 and 4) did not suffer from the sophomore curse. This was on par with the first novel and I enjoyed it every bit as much. There are loads of different characters but the main focus is still on the main characters Royce and Hadrian. I love these characters and I can't wait for the next book.

If anyone could transition this to tv without mucking around with it to make everybody in love with everybody else, or whatever idiot changes they always seem to make when adapting somebody else's work, this series would make for fabulous television.

Royce and Hadrian, the main characters, have that 'odd couple' relationship that makes for fun banter and frequent bickering. There is plenty of straight-forward action with sword fights, battles, daring escapes, rescues, robberies, etc. There are also lots of secrets and lies, betrayals and conspiracies. I hate it whenever I have to stop listening, because I'm wondering what's going to happen next.

Although Volume 2 of the Ryria Revelations contains two books, Nyphron Rising and The Emerald Storm, I still felt how I usually feel after reading the middle book of a good trilogy - unsatisfied with how things are left off and ready for more.

Royce and Hadrian continue their adventures and do some digging into their pasts, while Arista sets off on her own and faces some serious challenges. Each of the characters is flushed out some and the bigger picture continues to come into focus. For me, The Emerald Storm was a bit of a tangent and did not advance the main storyline as much as I would have hoped, but any story involving Royce and Hadrian is entertaining so I'm not complaining.

Tim Gerard Reynolds does his normal excellent job bringing the characters to life and at this point I could not imagine anyone else voicing them. So if you enjoyed Volume 1 there is no reason to hesitate on picking this one up, just keep in mind that the story doesn't end here and you will have to pick up Volume 3 as well.

Maybe - the story is good and entertaining, but I'm not sure there is enough depth to listen to the series over and over again. As another reviewer mentioned it's sometimes annoying in how easily the conflicts are overcome.

It might be one worth bringing out again later when I just need a fun "light" listen. The adventures are fun and move at a good pace.

Would you be willing to try another book from Michael J. Sullivan? Why or why not?

Yes, but I wouldn't expect to be wowed.

Have you listened to any of Tim Gerard Reynolds’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I'm not sure, but he is a very good narrator and would like to see what other stories he's narrated.

Where does Rise of Empire rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

middle

What other book might you compare Rise of Empire to and why?

tough to say

What about Tim Gerard Reynolds’s performance did you like?

he does a great job with everything, doesn't over do the voices

Any additional comments?

I think after listening to 3 of the books I would say that this is A-. It's definitely good, in fact it's really good. Creative, well written, compelling characters. For whatever reason it doesn't have that driveway quality to it where you want to sit in your car and let it play. I enjoy listening to Ryira but find I stray away from it for podcasts or another book. I'll probably finish the series but very slowly as I'll be constantly interrupted by other things.

Yes, I think the narator did an excellent job of playing all the characters, the story is interesting and the characters in general kept the story alive.

What other book might you compare Rise of Empire to and why?

Maybe to the golden compass, because of the threat of a power hungry, self righteous "authority" who wants to dominate the world.

Which scene was your favorite?

Morbidly, I liked the scene when Haydrian and Royce reach the princess after they find out they were tricked. How Haydrian comforts the princess. You begin to realize that something is there even though they themselves are not aware of it yet.

Any additional comments?

The series in general is great. I've read some negative comments about the characters but in this set you start to understand them much more. You see them change, evolve and grow into real heroes...something they were not expecting of themselves.

What made the experience of listening to Rise of Empire the most enjoyable?

The Riyria series is one of the best reads ever. The narration is perfect, the story complex enough to be engrossing and the characters are believable and easy to love or hate. I will hate to see this recording come to an end!

Who was your favorite character and why?

I love Arista. To see such innocence and hope transformed but not crushed is wonderful.

What does Tim Gerard Reynolds bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Every character has his or her own voice. They are distinctive enough that they very quickly become recognizable.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

While not my favorite, It is fun and enjoyable story. Just finished the series and found it a perfect filler while waiting for the next installments of my fantasy favorites (WoT final and Rainwilds). Even though "somewhat" predictable ... this was a fun and interesting story,very likable characters and quite well read.

my English isn't the best as you can maybe see, but as the title says hope it never ends, the characters and the plot/storyline is awesome, the reader is great his old guy voice is just perfect, totally worth buying.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

D Mills

Surrey, United Kingdom

12/1/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Riyria Revelations series gets even better"

I loved this second volume of the Riyria Revelations - Rise of Empire. Tim Gerard Reynolds does a brilliant job of narrating the characters, each with their own voice and character. War in Melengar, a continued search for the Heir of Novron, Princess Arista, Amelia, the Empress - wow what a story. I couldn't stop listening. I'm now onto the final instalment of the Riyria Revelations and it just gets better.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

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